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Theres a War Going On! The Kingdom in the New Testament:
Week 2

Observing the Stuff!The Kingdom Of God In The New
TestamentWhen you open the pages of the New Testament you may be
struck by the apparent war in which Jesus is immediately engaged.
John
the Baptist proclaimed that there was one coming in which the Age of the
Spirit would come. The words of Jesus in Mark clearly denote that the Kingdom
had arrived with Jesus. The words and works of Jesus form a unity
in which the Kingdom of God is spoken about and demonstrated. In Jesus we have
the presence of the future. Jesus has brought the Rule of God from the future
into the present. We now live in the presence of the future. This expression
was often used by the late Dr. George Eldon Ladd to express Kingdom reality. He
often said that the church lives between the times; she lives between the
inauguration and the consummation of the Kingdom.

This "now-but-not-yet" concept is seen throughout the New
Testament. Matthew illustrates it at 12.28 when he writes, Since I am
casting out demons by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come upon
you. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15.24, Then comes the end, when He
delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every
authority and every power. John writes in 1 John 3.2, Beloved, we are
God's children now, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that
when he appears we shall be like him. What Jesus did was as important as
what he said. Twentieth century Chrstians are often more preoccupied with what
he said, too often forgetting that what he did carries the same message. He
taught as much by doing as by saying.

Interpreting the
Stuff!What Did Jesus Do in His Ministry?

It is fair to ask the question: What did Jesus do in his
ministry? Mark's Gospel makes it clear that the mission of Jesus was to destroy
the activity of
Satan
in the world. He gave his hearers an optical illustration of the Kingdom in his
ministry of healing the sick and casting out demons. Jesus and Satan were in a
cosmic conflict that was being played out in the battle for ownership and rule
in the lives of men and women. In like manner other battles were afoot: hunger
(John
6), natural catastrophes
(Mark
4.35-41), sickness
(Luke
7.21), and death
(Luke
7.11-17).

Matthew's Gospel (12.22-31) clearly demonstrates that the war
between Jesus and Satan is not a civil war within a kingdom. Rather, it is a
battle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The strong man,
Satan, is bound (deo: to binda metaphorical term indicating the curbing
of power) so the strong man's house (Satan's kingdom) may be plundered. The
power is curbed, but not rendered completely powerless
(Matt.
16.23;
Mark
8.33; Ladd. A Theology of the New Testament. 1974. 66).

How Others Explain the KingdomIn his book
The Real Satan, Dr. James Kallas says, "A war is going on! Cosmic war!
Jesus is the divine invader sent by God to shatter the strengths of Satan. In
that light, the whole ministry of Jesus unrolls. Jesus has one purpose-to
defeat Satan. He takes seriously the strength of the enemy" (Kallas. 175, 60).
Jesus won the war, but there are battles still left to be fought. Jesus gave
his disciples the mission of continuing to bring the Rule of God into the world
in their lives and proclamation(Luke
10.8-9) . In their preaching and miracles Jesus saw Satan's defeat
(Luke
10.18). The last words of Jesus to his disciples when he left
(Acts
1.1-8) demonstrate that he would empower his disciples to continue in the
cleanup of the war.

An illustration from Oscar Cullmann's book Christ and
Time will help us understand this concept of cleanup. He shares a story
from World War II's D-day and V-day. D-day was June 6, 1944, a day that the
result of the war was decided. However, the war did not officially conclude
until May 7-8, 1945, on V-day (Cullmann. 1964. 84). Between these two dates,
almost a year, there were still battles being fought and allied lives being
lost. In fact, more lives were lost during this period than any other period
during the war. Even though the battles went on, the war had been decided. So
it was with Jesus. The earth was his. In his birth, life, death, resurrection,
and ascension God had overthrown Satan. God planted his flag in the form of a
cross and Jesus said, "It is finished." The war is over, but the aftermath
still continues and will until the return of Jesus.

To understand the Kingdom of God, its
present
and future aspects, is to understand the theme from which the ministry of
Jesus and the writings of the New Testament flow. We live in the presence of
the future, the "now-but-not-yet." When we view any passage of Scripture in the
New Testament, we must put on our Kingdom of God glasses and ask questions of
that passage with that set of presuppositions. The Kingdom of God was in the
Old Testament. It can be clearly demonstrated that the Kingdom is seen in
events like the Exodus and Israel's captivity in Babylon. God acted in kingly
power to deliver and judge his children. The Kingdom came into history
once-and-for-all in the person and works of Jesus.

Two Ways to View the Kingdom in The New
TestamentThere are two ways in which the material of the New
Testament concerning the Kingdom can be viewed: the Satanward view and the
Godward view.

Satanward
View:The Satanward view takes seriously the idea that Jesus
came into the world to wage war against Satan. The tendency of the Western
Christian is to accept the supernatural events which happened in Scripture in
one of three ways:

1

The events happened then, but they do not happen today.

2

The events happened then and they still happen today.

3

The events never happened as they are reported, therefore, they
cannot happen today.

When the New Testament material is observed from the perspective
that the ministry of Jesus was indeed aimed at Satan in a cosmic war fought on
earth, it is called the Satanward view. This term was coined by Dr. James
Kallas and is meant to demonstrate that Christians should take Satan seriously
as God's enemy.

Godward
View:The second manner in which the material of the New
Testament can be seen is called by Dr. Kallas as the Godward view. In this view
the mission of Jesus was to bring us salvation and return us to fellowship with
God.

Which
View? Both the Godward and Satanward views are legitimate.
According to Dr. Kallas, the following approximate percentages are found:

The contents of the Synoptics and Paul is eighty percent Satanward
and twenty percent Godward

Both interpretations are true. It is a fact that Biblical truth
can never be discerned by choosing one truth over another. Both truths must be
held in tension. "When the two are separated," states Dr. Kallas, "it is not
that one has half a truth, but that one has no truth, but distortion."

To accurately understand the Kingdom of God, we must be
committed to the Satanward view of Scripture as well as the Godward view.
Within the Satanward view the Church is seen as the army of God which continues
the cleanup mission until the return of the King. In the Godward view the
Church is seen as the functioning body of the King left on earth to minister
redemption to those outside and care to those inside the body.

Doin' the Stuff!It is always important to
apply what you have learned. Pause at this point and ask for the help of the
Holy Spirit to meditate on and put into practice some or all of the
following.

In what two areas of your life does the "now-but-not-yet"
concept help you sort out how life as a believer works?

What pattern of warfare does the enemy use on
you?

On a scale of one to ten: how does the Satanward view
strike you? Why?

How does the Godward view strike you differently or the
same? Why?

BibleHandbook: Resource StuffRead the following Dictionary Articles from Easton's Bible
Dictionary.Easton's is about a century old, therefore, some of the
information is not current with newer Bible Dictionaries. You might read the
articles off-line in a number of different Bible Dictionaries. If you do not
own a Bible Dictionary, I would recommend New Bible Dictionary 3rd Edition. If
you like lots of color pictures, try
Revell Bible
Dictionary. One of these should suit your personal
needs.